


Mo Ghrá

by denimwrapped



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gift Giving, M/M, Selkies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28136580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denimwrapped/pseuds/denimwrapped
Summary: Ryan and Shane exchange some unusual presents.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 15
Kudos: 68
Collections: Skeptic Believer Book Club Advent Calendar





	Mo Ghrá

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here's my entry for the advent calendar. Thank you to Bee for suggesting this idea, and to the bookclub at large for making it happen. 
> 
> To everyone else, I wish a merry early Christmas, a happy seventh night of Hanukkah, and a decent end to this wild ride of a year.

Ryan shuffles into the living room, coat wrapped around his body, and Shane can’t help but smile at the sight of him. The sleep-ruffled hair, the small barefooted steps, the mug of hot chocolate Ryan’s holding with both hands - it’s all too much. 

When Ryan reaches the couch, Shane pulls him in close against his side, keeping his magical little boyfriend warm on a surprisingly chilly Christmas morning. 

Usually Ryan would be waking up at his parents’ house, having Christmas there - but this year it’s going a little differently. His parents have gone off to a relative’s place, somewhere Shane can’t follow, to spend time with the extended family. Leaving Ryan to spend the day with his favorite long-legged landlubber. 

“You wanna open your present first?” Shane asks. 

“You bet I do, big guy.” 

The logical part of Shane’s brain knows that Ryan will love whatever present he gets - he’s nice like that. But the tight relationship in his brain between logic and reality has been, to put it mildly,  _ challenged _ \- by none other than Ryan “I told you so” Bergara himself - quite a bit lately. So he watches anxiously as Ryan pulls the tissue paper out, one by one, until- 

“Aw, Shane!”

Ryan pulls a teddy bear out of the bag, complete with a navy blue coat and yellow hat. 

“I love him. He can live on my desk and keep me sane when I’m writing.”

Shane nods, but can’t help but smirk and add a “Look closer, Ry’.”

Confused, Ryan squints and looks over Paddington. 

“Take off his jacket.”

“Jesus, sir,” Ryan wheezes. “At least let me ask him for dinner f-”

The joke dies on Ryan’s tongue, a smile giving way to shock and then a smile again. Underneath the jacket is a tiny yellow-and-purple jersey, perfectly fitted for the plush it’s on. 

“Oh my god. Wait, is all-” He flips Paddington’s hat off, revealing a gold-colored headband underneath. 

“If you want to give him little basketball sneakers, I’ve got those, too.”

“Shane, I- thank you. I didn’t even know they sold Lakers-themed Paddingtons.”

“They don’t.”

There’s a beat. A realization.

“Making all those puppets gave me a lot of sewing practice, so-”

He’s cut off by a bone-crushing hug, and the firm press of Ryan’s lips to his own. 

“Love you too, Ry’.”

“He’s staying by my side forever.”

“You can watch the game today with him!”

“Yeah,” Ryan says, wide smile faltering. Oh, shit. Did Shane strike a nerve? Is- he can’t be _that_ upset about the Lakers’ bad Christmas record, can he-

“I actually, uh. I wasn’t planning on watching the game today,” he adds. “I’ve got other plans.”

Oh. So Shane spending the past week studying Lakers trivia was about as worthless as Medvedenko in 2000. Dang it. 

“What kind of plans?”

Ryan hands him a box. 

“I was hoping you could meet my family later today. My whole family.”

“Aw, babe.” Shane’s hands work on tearing the wrapping paper off, but his eyes stay on Ryan, with his shy, uncertain little smile. “Look, I’d love to meet ‘em, too, but I'm okay with waiting if-"

Shane’s words hit a wall when he opens the box. 

Inside is a fur coat. As Shane pulls it out, the light catches thousands of tightly-packed strands of fur, every one the same shade of brown as his hair. Static shocks tickle his fingertips as he runs them along the soft outside of the coat, something both utterly natural and not quite of this earth. 

It’s sealskin, he realizes. The same kind that Ryan’s got wrapped around himself. 

“How?” Shane asks. 

Ryan shrugs. “My family is made up of supernatural beings. We knew a guy.”

It’s not that Shane doesn’t have follow-up questions - he has plenty. But if there’s one thing that the past few years have taught him, it’s that Ryan Bergara, by nature, defies explanation. And Shane loves him for it. 

Shane all but drops the coat to wrap both arms around Ryan, hoping that his lips can say  _ thank you _ more clearly when they’re pressed against Ryan’s cheeks, his forehead, his lips, than they ever could on their own. 

* * *

The beach is more or less deserted, the biting wind chill and allure of Christmas gatherings keeping most of the locals inside. The breeze nips at Shane’s skin as he takes off his shirt and slips the coat on. 

It’s a perfect fit. 

“You’re gonna want to follow my lead,” says Ryan as he puts his own coat on. “Stick right behind me, and everything’ll be okay. Okay?”

Shane nods. 

Ryan leads them both to the water’s edge. Gentle waves lap at their bare feet, the first steps into a near-infinite unknown. 

Unknown for Shane, anyway. Ryan’s at home here. He’s swum through these waters all his life, made countless memories under the waves, and here he is, inviting Shane in to share the sea with. 

It’s strange and big and even frightening, but that’s never stopped Shane from following Ryan before. 

Shane takes a deep breath, and starts walking forward. The water is freezing, but Ryan holds his hand firm and warm, so he keeps walking, keeps going, until he has to fill his lungs and duck underwater and feel every inch of his skin stretch and change and-

He opens his eyes. Ryan’s hand isn’t holding his - they don’t have hands anymore. His legs have fused into a long tail, his skin thickened into a protective blubber, his beard transformed into whiskers that pick up countless unknowable scents in the water. 

Ryan’s right beside him. It’s not the first time that Shane’s seen him in seal form, but Ryan still manages to take his breath away. Surrounded by jet-black fur are Ryan’s eyes - no matter what form Ryan takes, Shane thinks he’d always recognize those. 

Ryan swims right up to Shane, their bodies rubbing close and his flippers holding on in an approximation of a hug. With a flick of his tail Ryan sends them twirling, spiraling through the sea, the pull of gravity no longer holding them down. 

How long they stay like that, Shane’s not sure. Eventually they part, and Ryan says something that sounds like  _ follow me.  _

And Shane does. 


End file.
